


The Bridge of Dying

by Sneeze_Meister



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Blood and Gore, Canon Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Existential Angst, Heavy Angst, Light Romance, M/M, No Fluff, Not for Sensitive, One Shot, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-04
Updated: 2014-06-04
Packaged: 2018-02-03 08:38:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1738223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sneeze_Meister/pseuds/Sneeze_Meister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Scouting Legion goes on another expedition, and the outcome is more horrible than Eren could of anticipated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bridge of Dying

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cityof-fallenmalecshippers](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=cityof-fallenmalecshippers).



_This shouldn't of happened._

Even though the last expedition beyond the walls ended in many casualties, we ended up going on another one. At the time, I was nervous but it wasn't because of my fate; I could just turn into a titan if I needed to. The real reason I was nervous was because of Armin. I knew how he wasn't that good in the battlefield, and I just didn't want him to get hurt.

“Eren, I'll be fine, don't worry about a thing! I'm just worried about you.” Armin had brushed me off in the hallway outside of the lecture room, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear. As always, he had a book with him, and he was holding it close to his chest. I rolled my eyes.

“I'll be just fine. You'll see.” I said. Armin smiled at me, but then his expression turned serious. “Eren, promise me.” he said.

I blinked, confused for a moment. “Promise you what?”

“Promise me that you'll come back to the walls, safe and sound.” he explained. I stared at him for a moment, but then a smile spread slowly across my face and I ruffled his beautiful blonde hair.

“I promise.” I said. Before I could make him promise me, he leaned in and brushed his lips against mine. I tilted toward his touch, but he pulled back, a coy smile on his face as he turned on his heel and left me standing there like an idiot.

Back then, I should've known why he didn't stick around. I guess I was too busy watching him leave to notice.

* * *

It was finally time for the mission. To be completely honest with myself, I was terrified. But, again, I wasn't terrified for my sake. By the time I remembered to tell Armin to be careful, it was already time to go, and the blonde was nowhere to be seen. I sighed and looked around. Wasn't he assigned the left flank this time? I cursed my memory for not remembering. At least then I could've given him a kiss and told him to be safe all before the mission was about to start.

Finally, the expedition began. I smothered my fear and looked on ahead. I had to be brave, for Armin's sake. We took off on our horses, riding into titan territory. In the debriefing I had learned that this mission was another 'test' one or something of the like. At the time, I wasn't paying much attention. If I can recall correctly, I think I might've been having a dream. Although now I forgot what it was. All I know was that it was a very good one.

Reminding myself to focus, I followed behind Levi and the other members of our squad. We kept in a straight formation. Apparently we had a destination in mind. If only I had paid attention! Dammit...

I knew I would get in trouble if I asked Levi what was going on, so I stayed quiet. So far it was pretty good. Mostly quiet, since we were at the safest spot in the formation once again. Of course, we had that whole smoke trail thing going on, to steer us in the right direction, but wherever we were going, we had to have been there before.

Some time had passed by, when we finally saw it in the distance. The huge forest that had trees taller than titans. Our destination. Even though I had seen it before, it still amazed me. The trees were so giant. It made me wonder about the rest of the world, and what Armin's book had said about it. I imagined Armin's face once we finally got to the ocean. He would look so thrilled to see the huge vastness of the sea. His eyes would light up, a big smile would spread across his face, and he'd just stare, mesmerized, at the ocean, a gentle breeze caressing his hair, until finally he'd want to touch it. It was a reaction that I definitely wanted to see. That I _would_ see.

Once we got to the entrance of the forest, I wondered if we'd stop at the entrance and wait for another squad or something, but instead we just plowed on through. Fine by me. I had no idea what was going on. The only noise I hear is the sound of the horses beating their hooves against the ground. No one talked.

Out of the corner of my eye, I turned and saw Armin on his 3DMG, swinging across the trees in a manner that I could only describe as graceful. Levi and the rest of the squad noticed Armin's presence, and Levi told the squad to run with the horses as he went to go see what Armin needed. Before anyone could reply, he was already off, his 3DMG pulling him towards Armin. I wanted to make sure Armin was okay, so I took off after Levi.

Armin and Levi had landed on a tree branch; they seemed to be in a heated discussion. Armin averted his eyes, and that's when he noticed me swinging over. I saw his eyes light up when they met mine, and my mind almost stopped working. Levi turned and saw me just as I was landing beside them.

“Shitty brat! What did I say? I told you to stick with the horses like the others!” Levi snapped. I resisted the urge to talk back to him.

“What's going on?” I asked. Before Levi could talk, Armin explained.

“The left flank has been annihilated. I don't know if there are any left back there.” Armin began. “There's also several abnormals headed this way.” I grimaced.

“I'm glad you're safe, though.” I said, relief heavy in my voice. Levi tsked and rolled his eyes.

“We have no time for this, we need to take care of those filthy titans.” he said. Armin nodded, and moved to take off again.

“Yeah, I'll go and warn the other squads.” Armin said. Then he jumped, going to take off with his 3DMG again. I heard the loud footsteps too late; I reached out too late. Armin turned back to look at me just as a titan smacked his small body higher into the air. I couldn't tell if the cracking noise I heard was Armin's bones or my heart breaking. Levi swore and took off, saying that we needed to get out of there, but all I could do was watch Armin's limp body fall to the ground. It was as if everything had slowed. I think I might've saw blood.

“Jaeger! The gas is low! We gotta go now!” Levi yelled. I knew this, but at the same time, there was Armin, his body twisting and turning as he plummeted toward the bottom. I jumped, using my 3DMG, but my mind was completely blank on what to do. That was Armin falling. Armin, my best friend in the beginning, and then my lover. He should've never been on the battlefield. He was better suited at thinking up battle plans than doing them! God dammit, why didn't I try harder to stop him from joining the Scouting Legion!?

And suddenly, my gas ran empty. Just like that, my decision was made. Luckily, I was close enough to the ground that I didn't get any major injuries. Stumbling from the spot where I hit the ground, I raced over to where Armin's bloody and battered form lay. I could tell before I reached him that he was broken beyond repair. Still I fell to my knees in front of him and cradled him close. I thought I could feel his hand griping mine, and hope bloomed in me.

“Armin, oh God, Armin! Everything's going to be alright, okay, baby? Everything'll be okay! I'll never let you get hurt like that ever again, okay, love?” I whispered over and over in his ear, kissing his bruised cheek in between my mumblings. “I love you so, so, very much...!”

Something in me could tell that Armin wasn't moving anymore, that his grip on my hand either was imagined or gone. But I couldn't accept that fact. I cradled the blonde, rocking back and forth as I rested his head against my chest, murmuring things about the outside world and love and how I'd never let him do something so reckless again as tears ran down my cheeks.

Maybe he was still alive! Maybe he just can't move from the shock! I kept telling myself as my whispers soon turned into soothing hums. Finally, I stilled and moved him so that I could see his face. His eyes were open, and they were staring at nothing. Completely dead and glazed over. My gasp turned into a choked breath as I kept stammering. “No. Please don't do this to me, love, please! I need you so badly. We were gonna see the ocean together!” then my voice cracked and broke down, and I closed his eyes with my hand that wasn't holding his cold one. Armin was truly gone. He had crossed the bridge of dying, and now there was no going back. I wonder if he was at all conscious while I was holding him.

A horse's hooves galloping against the dirt and the whinny of the animal alerted me that I was no longer alone. The rider stopped the horse several feet behind me, but I didn't bother turning to see who it was. My love, my purpose, my happiness, has left me. Armin was my rock, he was always there for me to whisper secrets and insecurities to during the night, to help me out when I was struggling, to kiss away all my pain. He said he was weak, but to me, he was one of the strongest people I knew. And now he's gone. Taken away just like that. I didn't even get to say goodbye.

I was brought back to reality when my back was nudged with a boot. Slowly, I turned and saw Levi looking down at me, his face expressionless. He took a look at Armin's corpse in my arms for a moment before looking away.

“I ran out of gas.” Levi began. “But I'm pretty sure we could ride the horse back to the walls.”

I stared at him for a moment, then looked down at my beautiful lover who would never speak again. Even in death, covered in blood and bruises, he was still somehow beautiful.

“Can we take him with?” I asked softly. I knew that if I said his name out loud, then this would all become real, and I didn't want that. I just wanted to wake up and move on from this horrible nightmare. Levi sighed.

“Yes, we can take the bra-I mean, cadet with us.” Levi said. He must've felt pity for me, since he didn't call Armin a brat. Well, tried not to. Even though we could take him, I somehow felt as if I couldn't move. It was like Armin was made out of heavy, solid rock and I couldn't get up. This time Levi's sigh sounded slightly annoyed, and he helped me to my feet. Since Armin felt really light, I carried him back to the horse. Levi hopped on it and I got on afterward, still cradling Armin against my chest, even though his body was already cold. And with that, Levi turned the horse around and we headed back to the walls.

_This should never of happened._

 

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to depressing music through this whole thing XD  
> Thanks to tumblr user cityof-fallenmalecshippers for letting me use her headcanon(?) thingy! This is a gift for her!  
> Really sad one-shot thing. =P (I have no soul when it comes to me writing angst)  
> I can't exactly find the url of the post, so ehhhhh *shrugs*


End file.
